March 28, 2013
Live Results | Day One Results in PDF Format
STANFORD, Calif. - Freshman Kevin Ko (Coquitlam, B.C.) fired an even-par 70 on Thursday to lead the San Diego State men's golf team during the opening round of the U.S. Intercollegiate at Stanford Golf Course. In just his second start of the season and first this spring, Ko managed to offset four bogeys with four birdies to finish the day in a tie for 25th place on the par-70, 6,742-yard layout.
In the team standings, the Aztecs wound up in 16th place among 18 squads after shooting a collective 9-over 289 during the first round. However, SDSU finds itself just nine shots in back of seventh-place UC Davis (E) in a hotly contested field, while the top six schools are separated by just five strokes. Host Stanford (-8) owns the lead after day one, followed closely by Saint Mary's (-7), TCU (-6), the University of San Francisco (-5), San Jose State (-4) and USC (-3).
Individually, nine golfers are perched atop an equally crowded leaderboard after each shot a 4-under 66 on Thursday, including Paul Barjon of TCU, San Jose State's Cody Blick, Jeffery Kang of USC, Minnesota's Erik Van Rooyan, Mac McClung of Saint Mary's, San Francisco's Seb Crookall-Nixon, Pontus Gad of TCU, Stanford's Patrick Rogers and Cory McElyea of San Francisco.
SDSU's lineup is also tightly bunched, with sophomore Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.) and senior Tom Berry (New Haw, Surrey, England) trailing Ko by a combined two shots. Despite starting off hot with three birdies on the front nine, Schauffele stumbled down the stretch, notching five bogeys over his last eight holes to tie for 31st at 1-over 71. Berry, meanwhile, sits in a tie for 49th after carding a 2-over 72.
Rounding out the Aztec starters were freshman Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy) and junior Austin Kaiser (Atascadero, Calif.), who both recorded a 6-over 76 on Thursday to tie for the 83rd position. Michelini was 1-under through 10 holes, before experiencing a tough closing stretch that included three bogeys and two double-bogeys, while Kaiser endured a similar fate with two double-bogeys and a bogey over his final four holes.
SDSU will look to make a move in the standings on Friday when the U.S. Intercollegiate resumes with second-round action beginning at 8 a.m. PT.
U.S. IntercollegiateRound OneStanford G.C.Stanford, Calif.Par 70, 6,742 yards
Team Scores (Top 5 of 18 teams + SDSU)1. Stanford 272 (-8)2. Saint Mary's 273 (-7)2. TCU 274 (-6)4. San Francisco 275 (-5)5. San Jose State 276 (-4)----16. San Diego State 289 (+9)
Individual Leaders (Top 9 of 96 + SDSU)T1. Paul Barjon, TCU 66 (-4)T1. Cody Blick, San Jose State 66 (-4)T1. Jeffery Kang, USC 66 (-4)T1. Erik Van Rooyen, Minnesota 66 (-4)T1. Mac McClung, Saint Mary's 66 (-4)T1. Seb Crookall-Nixon, USF 66 (-4)T1. Pontus Gad, TCU 66 (-4)T1. Patrick Rogers, Stanford 66 (-4)T1. Cory McElyea, USF 66 (-4)----T25. Kevin Ko, SDSU 70 (E)T31. Xander Schauffele, SDSU 71 (+1)T49. Tom Berry, SDSU 72 (+2)T83. Riccardo Michelini, SDSU 76 (+6)T83. Austin Kaiser, SDSU 76 (+6)